What is so strange about it? People often dig in their heels when they say something they did not really mean, just to vent their frustrations or because they did not think it through, and then they are accused by other of being a bad person - so they become more and more defensive. My ex had that disposition, so I am kind of used to it.
I do not really think that a closet bigot or fascist would lurk on this list trying to disguise him/her-self as a radical. People have genuine grivenaces, perhaps not always expressed in a way we want to hear them, but real. Beating them over their heads with crutches of ideology, religion or dogma will have little effect on the reality these people see.
Wojtek